John had finally convinced Sherlock to get out of the flat and find something to do besides cause the destruction of Mrs. Hudson's walls. They'd walked around London for a bit and John had listened to Sherlock describe the private lives of the people they passed. Things had gotten a bit dicey when one couple overhead his deduction of how often the husband saw his mistress, but they'd managed to get away while the couple was busy fighting.

Now they were sitting in one of the many coffee shops on the street, John talked about work and Sherlock at least had the decency to pretend to listen. It was all very normal and very calm until the people at the table behind them recognized the famous detective and blogger combo.

It was two men and their girlfriends, John saw one of the women tug on her boyfriend's sleeve and point him and Sherlock out. The man smirked and whispered something, which John felt did not bode well for him and his date. Then he stood up and walked over to John's table.

The man was stocky and tall, sporting a dark beard and a darker leather jacket that looked like it cost several hundred dollars.

"Hey! It is Sherly!" He declared, and John gave a confused stare. While their fans were often loud about the detective's identity, they rarely called him 'Sherly'.

Sherlock however was not confused, rather he had a look of painful recognition on his face.

"...David." He greeted.

"You were right, Tanya, it is him!" The man now dubbed David shouted back to the girl at the table, who ran up and joined her friend.

"Do you remember us? From high school?" Tanya beamed, her face disgustingly fake.

"Yes." Sherlock stated simply.

"Can't believe it! You're some type of celebrity now!" David smirked. "Big difference from school, huh? Hey now, who's this?" David pointed at John.

"This is John."

John shook the man's hand, studying his boyfriend carefully. He knew these David and Tanya people were exactly the kind that Sherlock usually had no respect for. So where were the biting sarcastic remarks and the hateful glances? Sherlock was being so...docile. Something was up here.

"No surprise you turned out to 'bat for the other team'." David winked, elbowing Sherlock roughly. "Should have known the way you squealed whenever me and the boys roughed you up a bit."

"Excuse me?" John stuttered, Sherlock looked as though he wanted to melt into his seat.

"Oh, we were just playing really." David chuckled. "Sherly here was always an odd one, we had to teach him a lesson now and again."

"He was a real freak." Tanya wrinkled her nose. "Always telling people the weirdest things. Are you still like that, Sherly? Tell me what I had for breakfast this morning!"

"Alright, that's a little inappropriate." John said through gritted teeth. "This isn't high school anymore, let's not use the word freak."

"Bagel." Sherlock muttered, answering Tanya's earlier question.

"We're just playing with him." David insisted. "Besides, freak is putting it nicely! You should know, you're shagging him aren't you? What's that like?"

Sherlock looked as if he was on the verge of regaining his confidence and making a scathing remark but he remained silent.

"Well...it was nice meeting you but we're gonna be on our way out soon so..." John glared, though he couldn't start anything right now he could drop a hint.

"Yeah, yeah. See you around, Sherly." David wrapped a thick arm around Tanya and walked off with a sneer. John rolled his eyes and turned back to Sherlock who was studying the table with an fierce intensity.

"Alright. What's going on?" John asked. "You never let anyone talk to you like that. What makes them special?"

"Nothing." Sherlock's eyes narrowed into a glare and he folded his arms over his chest. While most people would see this as anger John read it as the embarrassment it really was.

"Sherlock, come on I won't think any less of you. I know tomorrow you'll be as rude as ever, but why weren't you rude to him just now?" John pressed, leaning his leg against Sherlock's under the table.

"...He's one of the reasons I added fighting moves to the mind palace." Sherlock muttered. "After school him and his gargantuan friends used to amuse themselves by physically abusing me."

"So he hurt you?" John felt anger rising up in his chest. Sherlock shrugged, leaning back in his seat.

"A juvenile problem I assure you. Nothing I would have the energy to hold against him now." Sherlock stood to leave, waiting for John to join him. However the doctor was staring at David and Tanya.

"Hang on, love. Wait by the door." John instructed, knowing that what he was about to do was petty and wrong. Still, he was going to enjoy it. Sherlock sent him a quizzical look as he stood up and approached the old high school tormentor.

"Ah, hello again." John gave a fake smile before grabbing David's coffee off the table and pouring it over the man's lap and several hundred dollar leather coat. Then he crushed the remaining paper cup against the huge man's head. "That's for calling him a freak. Bye!"

Grabbing Sherlock's hand he tore out of the coffee shop with the angry former-jock chasing after them, completely drenched in scalding hot coffee. Sherlock and John ran a few blocks, giggling like crazy before they finally lost him.

"Well, that was immature of me, but no one hurts my boyfriend without dealing with me." John smiled triumphantly.

"John, that was amazing." Sherlock replied.

"Brilliant?" John suggested.

"Fantastic." Sherlock agreed.